About Me

I am an associate professor in the Language, Literacy, and Culture Program and an affiliate associate professor in the Gender and Women’s Studies Program at UMBC.

My CV (updated June 2013) provides a complete overview of my professional information. Please contact me at <mallinson AT umbc DOT edu> for more information.

In my research I study language in its social context, with a focus on American English — specifically Southern English, Appalachian English, and African American varieties. I explore language as both a symbolic resource in the construction and negotiation of identities and cultures, and as a central mechanism in the reproduction of social inequalities. My research addresses some of the most chronic issues that contribute to the opportunity gaps in U.S. education, including the acquisition of literacy skills and student-teacher communication and miscommunication. My research, as well as my teaching and engagement, reflect my longstanding personal commitment to conduct and apply academic research within a social justice framework.

My book, Understanding English Language Variation in U.S. Schools, co-authored with Dr. Anne H. Charity Hudley, has been published in the Teachers College Press Multicultural Education Series. Order it through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or TCP.

Our second co-authored book, We Do Language: English Language Variation in the Secondary English Classroom, is forthcoming in 2013 and will also be published in the Teachers College Press Multicultural Education Series.

I am also the co-editor of Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications, a  Routledge volume, with Becky Childs, and Gerard Van Herk, forthcoming in May 2013.